Should Olympic world records count?

[Quigley Brown]

The faults are starting to come out regarding the death of the Georgian luge athlete up in Vancouver yesterday. One is that the track was made to be too fast. I wondered if it is the track that will make luges and bobsleds go faster should any world records count? Even if one is broken, in this day and age it would only be a matter of 0.00001 of a second. Still, I say they should count anymore.

 

[buddy5909]

I agree with you. Like in ice skating the jumps are getting a little crazy compared to jumps 50 years ago. Single and double jumps were the norm; now they do triples and quads. I love watching video from pass Olympics. If you watch people like Sonja Henie form 1932 it's crazy the difference compared to today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCvz0r_dKpA

 

[Son_of_Atropos]

My opinion: Events must be uniform and standardized in order to determine it is the athlete breaking the record and not outside influences assisting the athlete in breaking the record. However, there has been little standardization so it is pointless to standardize now. It may be impossible to standardize the events anyway aside from the race must be for 100 m or the basketball court is such and such dimensions.

From my perspective, the Olympics is about the best athlete being crowned the best in his specific event. World records should be used to determine who is the best of all time. Unfortunately standardization cannot be used unless only one event location is used, say Athens, Greece since it was the first place the Olympics was performed. Different locations have different impacts on events because of wind, weather, and sea level, etc. So, location has an impact on the event. Notice that even one event location would be problematic because weather and the environment change. I assume China's air was much cleaner 100 years ago. In addition, training methods, supplements, and equipment have improved which has shaken the entire Olympic landscape. Thus, with all these changes, world records are irrelevant with regards to a particular time frame. Personally, I think it is impossible to compare athletes even 10 years ago because of all the changes in the training landscape.

Thus, it is impossible to standardize for world records so why start now? Personally, I don't like it but what are the available alternatives?

Do the Olympics ban steroids? If so, I don't see the point. What is the difference between taking something that provides internal assistance versus something that provides an external assistance?

 

[Carlisle Blues]

^^^
Great points... In addition, even basic things must be taken into consideration, such as; the way food is grown or produced, the technology used to set a regimen or conditioning program for the athlete, the facilities used by the athlete to condition themselves are just a few variables to contemplate.

There are reasons why a skater can do a triple or quad today when the standard was a double only a few years ago.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

It would be nice to bring some historic perspective to this to make it more relevant to our forum.

 

[Quigley Brown]

The luge has always been deemed a dangerous sport, though. Such reasons held it from becoming an Olympic sport until 1964, which surprised me until I looked up the history of it recently.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

The modern Olympic Games started in 1896. They consisted of 13 nations and 311 competitors, all of which were males.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

This speaks more to what I wanted to concentrate on.

The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France in 1924. Prior to this, figure skating and ice hockey had been events at the Summer Olympics. The Games were held every four years from 1924 until 1940 when they were interrupted by World War II. The Winter and Summer Games resumed in 1948 and were celebrated on the same year until 1992.

 

[Son_of_Atropos]

^^^
Great points... In addition, even basic things must be taken into consideration, such as; the way food is grown or produced, the technology used to set a regimen or conditioning program for the athlete, the facilities used by the athlete to condition themselves are just a few variables to contemplate.

There are reasons why a skater can do a triple or quad today when the standard was a double only a few years ago.

Regarding how food is grown or produced-

I cannot remember the source but I recall that fruits and vegetables 100 years ago were more nutritious than the fruit and vegetables today. For example, one apple back then was as nutritious as three apples today. The reason for this disparity is that 100 years ago fruit and vegetables were grown in more hardy, natural soil while fruit today is grown in soil that is more like a sponge with lots of chemicals and fertilizers added. I think the phrase "quality over quantity" is appropriate.​

**The 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin were the first Games to be broadcast on television, though only to local audiences

 

[Tomasso]

The modern Olympic Games started in 1896. They consisted of 13 nations and 311 competitors, all of which were males.

The 14 man US team, sponsored by the Boston Athletic Association, won nine of the twelve track and field events.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Regarding how food is grown or produced-

I cannot remember the source but I recall that fruits and vegetables 100 years ago were more nutritious than the fruit and vegetables today. For example, one apple back then was as nutritious as three apples today. The reason for this disparity is that 100 years ago fruit and vegetables were grown in more hardy, natural soil while fruit today is grown in soil that is more like a sponge with lots of chemicals and fertilizers added. I think the phrase "quality over quantity" is appropriate.​

There is a give and take inherent with many technological advances, however, I look to the results the food produce. In this specific example it is adequate to result in assisting today's olympic competitor to achieve greater results.

Genetic engineering speaks to this:

"Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) are organisms whose genetic material has been altered by genetic engineering techniques generally known as recombinant DNA technology. Genetic engineering has expanded the genes available to breeders to utilize in creating desired germlines for new crops. After mechanical tomato-harvesters were developed in the early 1960s, agricultural scientists genetically modified tomatoes to be more resistant to mechanical handling. More recently, genetic engineering is being employed in various parts of the world, to create crops with other beneficial traits."

 

[Edward]

**The 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin were the first Games to be broadcast on television, though only to local audiences

They were also the only Olympics at which the gold medals were 100%, solid gold. Designed to be won by the Aryan Supermen who would triumph over all the world. And then along came Jesse Owens with a great big spanner.... lol

 

[Quigley Brown]

A historical marker sits along the road just a few miles from where I live...by some remote large hills near Canton, South Dakota (Iowa/SD border)...that tells the story of a large ski jump was made for U.S. national championships and Olympic trials back in the 1920s and 30s. I love stories like this. This area is very rural and all agricultural so it's hard to imagine thousands of spectators showing up at this spot out in the middle of nowhere. Of course, all that remains is the historical marker....

 

[Baron Kurtz]

It would be nice to bring some historic perspective to this to make it more relevant to our forum.

Like, something like the coolest phone on the planet?

bk

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Like, something like the coolest phone on the planet?

bk

Hey Baron, I missed you. Nice to see you back!